System and method of receiving advertisement content from advertisers and distributing the advertising content to a network of personal computers

• US 7,949,564 B1
• Filed: 05/31/2000
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Milne, Matthew W., Hughes, Scott T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fischer; Andrew J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Coppola; Jacob C.
• Application Number:
  US09/585,129
• Time in Patent Office: 4,010 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/27, 705/411, 705 50- 79
• US Class Current: 705/14.49
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

A method of distributing advertisement content. One embodiment of the invention comprises a distribution server that is connected to a network of personal computers via a network. The distribution server receives advertising data from advertisers and formats the advertisement data for storage and display on the personal computers during or before bootloading a user selected application environment. Upon the occurrence of one or more events, the distribution server distributes the advertisement data to the network of personal computers. The personal computers receive the distributed advertisement content and store the advertisement data on a storage device. Upon the bootloading of the user selected application environment, the advertising data is displayed to the user.

Claims

1. A method of operating a content delivery system implemented by a server computer for distributing advertising content to a plurality of personal computers, including a first and a second personal computer, the method comprising:

collecting identification data from each of the plurality of personal computers via a network, wherein each of the plurality of personal computers are configured to periodically receive and store advertisements while or before bootloading a user selected application environment;

receiving an advertising content from an advertiser, the advertising content including a plurality of advertisements;

receiving preference data from each of the plurality of personal computers, wherein the preference data of the first personal computer and the second personal computer are selected by a first user of the first personal computer and a second user of the second personal computer, respectively;

selecting a first advertisement from the advertising content to be distributed to the first personal computer and a second advertisement from the advertising content to be distributed to the second personal computer, wherein the first and second advertisements are selected based upon the received preference data from the first and second personal computers, respectively, and pre-determined conditions related to advertisement distribution;

formatting the first and second advertisements for storage and display in the first and second personal computers, respectively, while or before bootloading the user selected application environment, wherein a time frame occurs while or before bootloading and is divided into a plurality of time slots; and

distributing, using the collected identification data, the formatted first and second advertisements to the first and second personal computers, respectively, wherein the first and second personal computers are programmed to display the first and second advertisements, respectively, during one of the plurality of time slots, the one of the plurality of time slots having been purchased by the advertiser; and

associating a fee with data representative of the advertiser.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification data comprises a unique identifier that is associated with each of the plurality of personal computers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification data comprises an internet protocol address that is associated with each of the plurality of personal computers.

4. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising storing the fee in a storage device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the identification data comprises a unique identifier that is associated with each of the plurality of personal computers.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the identification data comprises an internet protocol address associated with each of the plurality of personal computers.

5. A content delivery system comprising:

a network of a plurality of personal computers, wherein at least one personal computer of the plurality of personal computers is programmed to display a first advertisement during one of a plurality of time slots, the one of the plurality of time slots having been purchased by an advertiser;

a server computer comprising;

an identification database comprising identification data, wherein the identification data uniquely identifies a computer or a user in the network of the plurality of personal computers;

an advertisement database comprising advertising data, wherein the advertising data is formatted for storage and display in the network of the plurality of personal computers while or before each of the plurality of personal computers bootloads a selected application environment, and wherein the advertising data includes a plurality of advertisements;

a collection module programmed to collect the identification from the network of the plurality of personal computers and store the collection information in the identification database;

a formatting module programmed to format and store the advertising data in the advertisement database, wherein the advertising data is formatted by the formatting module for storage and display in the personal computers while or before bootloading the user selected application environment, wherein a time frame occurs while or before bootloading and is divided into the plurality of time slots; and

a control module programmed to;

receive preference data from each of the personal computers, wherein the preference data is selected by a respective user of each of the plurality of personal computers;

select the first advertisement from the advertising data to be distributed to the at least one personal computer of the plurality of personal computers based upon the received preference data from the at least one personal computer of the plurality of personal computers and pre-determined conditions related to advertisement distribution;

distribute the formatted first advertisement to the at least one personal computer of the plurality of personal computers via the network; and

associate a fee with data representative of the advertiser.